The prior art includes a number of devices which are in limited ways similar to the apparatus and method of the present invention, but which differ substantially from the present invention.
For example, it is known to provide a stationary transparent bottle or container and to allow the user to selectively pour a variety of different color or otherwise visually different substances into the bottle to create a multicolor or multi-image visual effect. Since the container is stationary, the effect achieved is generally limited to a series of different layers stacked upon each other.
Another prior art device involves spinning or rotating an upwardly facing flat surface and selectively dropping different color paint onto the surface to create a splashed and irregular multicolored effect. Examples of this are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,280,792, 4,550,629 and 5,242,496. This produces a two-dimensional image on a flat surface rather than a three-dimensional multifaceted design which can be viewed from a plurality of directions and angles.
There have also been sealed transparent containers which permanently contained a plurality of liquids having different appearances and/or color and different densities so that they maintained separateness from each other in the container. The shapes of the different liquids would change as the container was rotated or otherwise moved about either manually or mechanically. This device required that there be substantial empty space within the container to facilitate the continuous reshaping and reforming of the liquids within the container. The participation or contribution of the user was limited or none at all. Each container had a permanent collection of materials that could not be changed.